Northern lights in North Bay tonight

The north shore of Lake Nipissing gives a clear northern horizon across the open water, reducing light pollution to the south and allowing a clean view of lower-altitude aurora arcs. Drive north of the city limits and find a lakeside pullout with minimal road lighting. On a Kp 5 night, a low arc above the tree line is the typical display. The lake reflection adds a foreground when aurora is bright enough to mirror on still water.

A small provincial park on the highway north toward Temiskaming. The campground has open clearings facing north with minimal ambient light from surrounding settlements. At 50 km from a city of 50,000, sky brightness is substantially lower than the lakeshore. On Kp 5 nights, aurora structure - bands and rays rather than just a diffuse glow - becomes visible from the campground clearings. The northern Ontario boreal forest provides a classic Canadian aurora silhouette.

Algonquin is Ontario's pre-eminent dark sky park and has been used for aurora photography for decades. Costello Creek on Highway 60 provides a wide clearing with a clear northern horizon. The park has almost no internal lighting. The drive south is a commitment on a marginal forecast night, but for Kp 5+ storms, Algonquin gives significantly darker skies than anywhere close to North Bay. The Wolf Howl Pond area and Mew Lake campground are alternative dark sky positions within the park.